Singapore real estate cooling measures prompt property panic-buying

In a recent report, Singaporeans can be seen stopping traffic and lining up in extremely long queues just to get the chance to purchase some flats before anyone (including the upcoming tax measures by the government) beat them to it.

Here’s a look at what the reports had to say:

The government has announced that tomorrow (6/7) there will be increased stem duties and many properties are hurrying to sell to the public before the revised policy (pre launch sales).

Many were eager to get their new homes before noon to avoid the cooling measures. These include Riverfront Residence, Park Colonial and Stirling Residences. Channel 8 News journalists were at Park Colonial’s showroom Woodleigh MRT the night before and witnessed that the entire road was jammed, and the public had to queue to enter.

The Stirling Residences and Park Colonial was supposed to open sales only on 14 July. According to a property agent (林欣霓 – I don’t know how to translate her name) mentioned that Park Colonial had a long queue since around 8pm and agents had flocked to the showroom upon hearing the news and about the crowd. At around 9pm, the crowd was still waiting as some admin was not finished and sales could not officially start.

A buyer mentioned that around 6pm, a friend had notified him about the cooling measures and once he had heard that there were early sales, had gone down to check out the crowd. Another buyer had mentioned that he had visited the showroom 3 days ago and was hesitating whether to make a purchase. As he was mostly satisfied with the condominium, he decided to queue and re-evaluate his decision before making a purchase.

To facilitate quick sales, the deals were made on a first come first serve basis for choosing of nites and signing of the “option to purchase” contract, and not like previous condo sales where buyers had to take a number and sign the contract before choosing their unit. As for Riverfront Residence in Hougang, there was an equally long queue and employees on duty even had to give out bottled water to those who were waiting in line.

A property agent, Eric, arrived at the showroom at 6.30pm to help clients queue. He mentioned that this is because he understands the hefty difference of 50000SGD is a lot for many and thus is worth the 4 hour wait.

A couple who managed to successfully buy a unit told the press that they felt very fortunate as they were previously interested in the area and had gotten a queue number for when sales launched but decided to rush down for the early sale once the government announced the cooling measures. An agent told the press that he estimates that all unites would be cleared and sold by the end of the night.

Here’s a video of what went down at one of the properties that went on advanced sale to get out of the new cooling measures.